Could anyone help identify what this piece of gasket I found in my radiator might be?
I replaced my PHH after a failure last week (bypassed with Gates green & Breeze clamps) and also replaced my thermostat and radiator cap at the same time. I cleaned the coolant reservoir and did 3 flushes of the system with distilled water (filled, bled air, drove 1/2 hr, drained), and by the last flush, the water coming out was really clean.
I filled it with Toyota red mixed with distilled water and drove around for about an hour, letting it cool completely off for a few hours. Then I opened the radiator and topped it off with coolant as it was just barely below the top fin. I let the truck run with the radiator cap off and jacked it up to burp any air out. After a few light revs, I went back and found this floating on top of the radiator.
Prior to this, I did notice a slight coolant loss on top of what I feel like is excessive white smoke on morning startup, and I assumed the head gasket was failing. I did numerous exhaust gas tests in various conditions, from a stone-cold engine sitting overnight to warmed up after the thermostat opened, and none of them failed at all.
I began to be on high alert when driving and when the PHH began to fail, I caught it very quickly as I noticed the heat slightly taper off while driving, and immediately shut it off knowing it meant I was losing coolant. The stock gauge barely moved before I shut it off; it never got above 60%.
Assuming the PHH was the cause of my coolant loss, I replaced it and didn’t think much of it, was going to button up this project and move on when I found this gasket piece. It has a rubbery gasket maker-like feeling to it; I'd assume it’s FIPG but not sure where it could be from.
The truck still blows significant white smoke on initial startup and after sitting for a few hours, but I do live in an incredibly humid place with wild temperature swings daily and it’s winter, so it also could just be from that. There's no smoke after a few minutes of driving and no overheating indicated on the admittedly unreliable stock gauge.
I’ve got many conflicting symptoms that are really wearing on me. I’m planning on doing another exhaust gas test tomorrow and sending an oil sample to Blackstone to see if I’m just overthinking this. The truck plays a very important role not only as my DD but also I will be traveling out of it full time, so I really don’t want to take any risks with the drivetrain. The truck is a 97 LX and has 170k on it; I don't want to fall into the trap of replacing things that aren’t necessary but also don’t want to be worried all the time.
Any help is greatly appreciated
TL;DR ih8mud has me paranoid about head gaskets.
I replaced my PHH after a failure last week (bypassed with Gates green & Breeze clamps) and also replaced my thermostat and radiator cap at the same time. I cleaned the coolant reservoir and did 3 flushes of the system with distilled water (filled, bled air, drove 1/2 hr, drained), and by the last flush, the water coming out was really clean.
I filled it with Toyota red mixed with distilled water and drove around for about an hour, letting it cool completely off for a few hours. Then I opened the radiator and topped it off with coolant as it was just barely below the top fin. I let the truck run with the radiator cap off and jacked it up to burp any air out. After a few light revs, I went back and found this floating on top of the radiator.
Prior to this, I did notice a slight coolant loss on top of what I feel like is excessive white smoke on morning startup, and I assumed the head gasket was failing. I did numerous exhaust gas tests in various conditions, from a stone-cold engine sitting overnight to warmed up after the thermostat opened, and none of them failed at all.
I began to be on high alert when driving and when the PHH began to fail, I caught it very quickly as I noticed the heat slightly taper off while driving, and immediately shut it off knowing it meant I was losing coolant. The stock gauge barely moved before I shut it off; it never got above 60%.
Assuming the PHH was the cause of my coolant loss, I replaced it and didn’t think much of it, was going to button up this project and move on when I found this gasket piece. It has a rubbery gasket maker-like feeling to it; I'd assume it’s FIPG but not sure where it could be from.
The truck still blows significant white smoke on initial startup and after sitting for a few hours, but I do live in an incredibly humid place with wild temperature swings daily and it’s winter, so it also could just be from that. There's no smoke after a few minutes of driving and no overheating indicated on the admittedly unreliable stock gauge.
I’ve got many conflicting symptoms that are really wearing on me. I’m planning on doing another exhaust gas test tomorrow and sending an oil sample to Blackstone to see if I’m just overthinking this. The truck plays a very important role not only as my DD but also I will be traveling out of it full time, so I really don’t want to take any risks with the drivetrain. The truck is a 97 LX and has 170k on it; I don't want to fall into the trap of replacing things that aren’t necessary but also don’t want to be worried all the time.
Any help is greatly appreciated
TL;DR ih8mud has me paranoid about head gaskets.
